What do you do with a zillion heads of lettuce (not to mention kale and collard greens)? I picked up week #2 of my Grant Farms CSA delivery last night and am inundated with greens. Ohh, I’m not complaining. Trust me, this is farm-fresh heaven. But I made a promise to myself (and St. Isidoare, the patron saint of farmers) this year to use every last lettuce leaf and not to let any of this fine food end up in my compost pile. We need to start with proper storage.

Washing, drying and storing salad greensFirst off, if you’re going to jump on the CSA bandwagon, get yourself a good salad spinner. I love my OXO brand, but it wasn’t cheap (well worth it though). Wash salad greens well. It may take two or three rounds. Save the wash water and use it on your plants. They LOVE murky green water.

Fill with greens and water. Swish, swish, swish (water plants) and spin dry. Drying is just as important as washing as your dressing won’t adhere to the leaves if they’re wet. Plus, it doesn’t store well if it’s too damp.

Using either a lightweight kitchen towel or a paper towel, lay the washed and spun-dry lettuce out on the towel and loosely roll it up, burrito style. Place in plastic bag and store in your refrigerator crisper. It should last up to a week or more.

9 Responses to “lettuce prep & kid-friendly green smoothie”

Here’s an idea: Blend your green smoothie as usual and spread on teflex sheets and dehydrate. I have some in my dehydrator right now as my Grant Farms CSA comes today and I still had some lettuce and spinach left. If you make it sweet enough, it might even interest the kids.

Oh, I’m sure this would be terrific. I’ve really enjoyed the green smoothies I’ve been making lately, but this recipe looks richer and thicker … still very, very healthy though. What kind of lettuce is that?

Thanks for the step-by-step process. Now can you give me some tips to find more room in my refrigerator? Lately, I’ve been wishing for one of those massive restaurant kitchen jobs. We just keep juggling. I stocked up yesterday wiht not a little dread at the juggling part. Real food requiring refrigeration definitely requires space, but, hey, real food is a good thing and definitely worth the juggling act.

Interesting. I do dehydrate kale, spinach, cilantro, and things like that, but I haven’t done a smoothie yet. I like dehydrating the heartier greens and saving them to throw in soups and stews while backpacking. It’s a good way to add some power to your campfare!

You’re welcome! I appreciate you leaving a comment and can’t wait to hear how your dehydrated smoothie turns out.

Shirley, get rid of old condiments!!! I couldn’t believe how many old condiments we still had in our fridge- some even containing gluten. Also I removed a shelf from our fridge so I can stack things really high. It looks funny and people think I cut down a bush and put it in my fridge (have been asked this question before!) with all the greens piled up in there but it works!
I like the idea of a green*ish* smoothie- sometimes I want something sweet but I’m just not in a hardcore green mood. Thanks Melissa!

Thanks, CoconutGal and Melissa. I don’t think I have any old condiments right now, but I’ve been surprised before. I think that’s a great idea on removing a shelf! I’m not a big fan of crisper drawers. Once things go in there, they sometimes get forgotten. Hey, how about some refrigerator veggie cubbies? Several sizes … stack as necessary. What do you think? Will that help us all and is there a million dollar idea there??? LOL

Melissa,
We talked about smoothies for breakfast and I can see you have several different recipes on your blog. What did you do for breakfast at Kripalu? Do you drink smoothies when you travel (do you bring equipment) or ????

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